The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) has intensified its coordination with foreign embassies in the country in a bid to upgrade the language proficiency and culture training of overseas bound workers.
Tesda Director General Secretary Guiling A. Mamondiong said the language-proficiency and culture training program of the agency would help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) communicate easily and learn about the culture of the country they have chosen.
A recent study has shown that training on language and culture will boost the appreciation and understanding of OFWs in their workplace abroad.
“Language proficiency at the workplace enhances quality service delivery which results in increased productivity and effectiveness,” Mamondiong stated in his letter addressed to foreign embassies.
He also stated that workplace-based language proficiency and knowledge of the culture of a particular country tend to promote better human relations that provide added job security overseas.
These foreign embassies in Mamondiong’s list include Spain, People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Malaysia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, Italy, France, Russia and Germany.
“In this regard, Tesda would like to recommend that our Filipino workers undergo workplace-based language training and culture prior to deployment. This specialized training has significant contribution in increasing the Filipino workers’ productivity, efficiency and quality of service delivery,” Mamondiong added.
Aside from this, Tesda has coordinated with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III for the same program.
“The increasing mobility of our Filipino workers has enabled them to be subject to exploitation and abuse due to the lack of awareness and confidence on the language of the country. Thus, the knowledge of workplace-based language and culture will be useful tool to thrive in a country,” Mamondiong’s letter to Bello read.